AtWork, founded by John Hall in 1986 and franchising since 1992, moved up 27 spots on the Franchise Times Top 400 to rank No. 179 with systemwide sales of $367 million in 2022. The Knoxville, Tennessee-based company has 90 locations in 31 states.
Growing up in Belgium, Terry Ceulemans had two dreams. The first was moving to America. The second was owning his own business.
Ceulemans checked off the first dream when he arrived in the United States in 2015 after taking a new position at his company.
And now, after a long and successful career at 3M, the 55-year-old Ceulemans achieved his lifelong entrepreneurial dream of business ownership by becoming AtWork’s first franchisee in Minnesota. Ceulemans signed a two-territory deal with the staffing and recruiting firm and expects to open his first office in the state’s capital of St. Paul in early September, followed by a second in nearby Richfield.
“This has been my dream since I was 14, owning my own business in America, the land of opportunity,” Ceulemans said. “Now I can help people improve their lives and make a difference in my community.”
AtWork franchisee Terry Ceulemans
Ceulemans, a husband and father of two, gave up a lucrative career at 3M—a manufacturer of a wide range of products, including abrasives, adhesive tape and related products, and consumer-electronics components—to pursue his goal of business ownership.
He held a number of executive positions at 3M and most recently was a senior director of global application engineering in the abrasive systems division. But after 29 years at 3M, mainly working in his home country of Belgium and then Paris before moving to the company’s corporate headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota, Ceulemans decided to follow his passion.
“I’m a people person and because of that I looked at a number of different franchise opportunities in the staffing industry. I choose AtWork because of how well they work and support their people. In franchising you never know how much support you’re going to get from corporate headquarters, but they have been with me every step of the way,” Ceulemans said.
“I can call them 24/7, anytime, and they will listen to me and try to understand my needs and provide a solution. Because of that I can focus more on growing my business,” he said.
AtWork, founded by John Hall in 1986 and franchising since 1992, moved up 27 spots on the Franchise Times Top 400 to rank No. 179 with systemwide sales of $367 million in 2022. The Knoxville, Tennessee-based company has 90 locations in 31 states.
The investment range to own an AtWork franchise is $153,500 to $210,500. Franchised offices in operation for one and two years did just over $1.4 million in gross revenue, and those open three to five years did $2.2 million in average unit volume, according to the company’s franchise disclosure document.
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Ceulemans understands staffing and recruiting is a competitive segment that fluctuates with the ebbs and flows of the economy, and that it will take time to grow his business. He’s in the process of finalizing a lease on his first location and is interviewing candidates for a business development officer who will sell AtWork services to local companies in the St. Paul area. He’ll also hire two or three recruiters to identify quality candidates for temp services.
“I’ll be involved in all the interviewing and then I will do everything I can to make our employees successful,” Ceulemans said. “I very much look forward to starting this next stage of my career.”
AtWork is equally excited to have Cuelemans in its system.
“His years in corporate America working with and leading people all over the world provided him invaluable experience connecting people in business,” said Jason Leverant, president and chief operating officer for AtWork. “I have no doubt he will be very impactful in his community and in our company.”